Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – August 15, 2009

Greetings, Zoners! I can tell it’s August, because everybody except me seems to be on vacation. So in honor of the dog days of summer, this edition of the zeitgeist includes some fun crafts for those of you who like that sort of thing. Here’s your zeitgeist for August 15th.

Six Degrees

• Peter Grosz opens for Jeff Tweedy of Wilco at a Chicago benefit – Wings for Wheels

  “Grosz began by saying that he hadn’t performed in front of this many people in a synagogue since his Bar Mitzvah, so he was expecting to be ignored by girls a foot taller than he, and to have everybody in the audience give his father checks after the show.”

• Circumcise Me, Tale of Comic Actor’s Transformation, to Play NYC – Playbill.com

  “Boasting a title that might make men squirm, Circumcise Me, a new comedy written by and starring comedian Yisrael Campbell, will play Off-Broadway’s Bleecker Street Theater starting Nov. 1 toward a Nov. 11 opening. The limited engagement is produced by Evelyn McGee Colbert and Eva Price of Maximum Entertainment Productions.”

Emmy Awards

• Q&A: Tina Fey – Broadcasting & Cable

  Q: There’s been lots of hubbub in the last week over the proposed Emmys telecast this year, in which eight awards will be given out before the show starts live, then edited down for the telecast. Are you following this?

  • Tina Fey: Just a little bit. The thing that I almost think is stranger is that the Individual Performance in Variety category disappeared. No one seems to care about that [change]. It felt like such a strange thing in a year when the late-night wars have become so exciting and are changing, and there are new players in different positions. That and people like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart and Conan O’Brien and Dave Letterman are doing so much good stuff. For that award to disappear, I thought, was the weirdest of the weirdnesses.

Come to Poppy

• Colbert’s Holbrooke-approved take on Afghanistan – Foreign Policy

  Ms. I pointed out this brief article in a comment earlier this week: “Ambassador [Richard] Holbrooke specifically referenced last night’s episode of The Colbert Report in his introduction to this morning’s event, saying this segment on the Afghan elections ‘got it pretty accurately.’ Draw your own conclusions about what that means for Afghan democracy but it is pretty funny.”

No explanation needed

• Tips for Right-wing Nutbars: Watch Colbert – dagblog.com

  “Last night, Ann Coulter was a guest on Hannity. During her appearance, in typical Coulter fashion, she made the over-the-top claim that she was just fine with “death panels”… as long as she was a panel member… Of course, Coulter has made her career out of spouting sensational nonsense. However, she may have been out-played this time. I say that because the night before her appearance on Hannity, Stephen Colbert had already used the “I’m just fine with death panels as long as I get to be on them” line during his interview with John [sic] Cohn… So, note to career nutters: Stephen Colbert has turned aping you into a science. You may want to spend a couple of hours a week watching his show to make sure that he hasn’t already made a mockery of the ridiculous things you haven’t yet had a chance to say.”

We have a winner!

• Congratulations to @mrschucknoblet, who won the Colbert Iraqi Coin Toss contest on Twitter, and is now the proud owner of one of the special coins that were made up for Operation Iraqi Stephen and handed out to the troops in the audience. Good for you, Courtney!

Fun with crafts

• Paper Toys of Superheroes, Stephen Colbert, Garfield, Peter Griffin, More – MalekTips.com

  “Cubeecraft offers free papercraft toys you can download and make without the need of tape or glue… Most ‘toys’ can be made by printing out the designs on 8.5 x 11 paper (stronger stock is recommended), cutting out the designs and slits, and performing folds and connecting the tabs to the slits.” (It looks like hours of fun, kids! If you go to Cubeecraft.com and click on the picture for the pop culture designs, it’ll take you to a selection that includes the Cubee Stephen Colbert, a Cubee Stephen Colbert, Iraq version, complete with shaved head and camo suit, and even a Cubee Conan O’Brien.)

COOKIE!!

• Revisiting 8 Sesame Street Rumors – Mental_floss

  “8. He’s Becoming the Vegetable Monster: In case anyone was still on the fence about Cookie Monster’s status as a cookivore, Matt Lauer visited Sesame Street in 2007 to ask him directly. Cookie Monster refuted the rumor, claiming that “you members of media blow story WAY out of proportion.” A year later, he visited the set of The Colbert Report to defend his stance on cookies once again. As you can see, Cookie Monster’s status (and name) remain entirely intact. (That sure sounds like a cue for one of my favorite TCR guest appearances… Enjoy the video!)

(h/t Ms I and Jennie)